Italy coach Luciano Spalletti said
Saturday that he was aiming to restore the spirit of past
national teams at his first press conference since being put in
charge of the Azzurri.
Spalletti has replaced Roberto Mancini, who quit the post last
month and went on to sign a lucrative contract to take over the
Saudi Arabian national team.
"I thank the federation and President Gabriele Gravina for
giving me this beautiful job," said Spalletti, who led Napoli to
the their first Serie A title in 33 years last season.
"I remember that fantastic 4-3 (victory) against Germany (in the
1970 World Cup semi-final).
"I hope to revive that dream and to be able to carry that flag
for thousands of children who dream of seeing the national team
win."
He added the he wants to see a sense of "belonging" from his
players.
"The national team jersey is an important challenge and not
everyone can wear it," he said.
Mancini's stint in charge was one of extremes as he led the
Azzurri to victory at Euro 2020 but they then missed out on
qualification for the 2022 World Cup under him.
It was the second successive time Italy missed out on the World
Cup after they failed to qualify for the the 2018 tournament
under Gian Piero Ventura.
On Friday Spalletti named his first squad in view of next week's
Euro 2024 qualifiers against North Macedonia in Skopje and
Ukraine in Milan.
He dropped former captain Leonardo Bonucci and midfielders Marco
Verratti and Jorginho.
Defender Nicolò Casale got his first call-up while his Lazio
team mate, winger Mattia Zaccagni, returned to the fold for the
first time since March 2022.
Squad.
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint Germain), Alex
Meret (Napoli), Ivan Provedel (Lazio), Guglielmo Vicario
(Tottenham);
Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Cristiano Biraghi
(Fiorentina), Nicolò Casale (Lazio), Matteo Darmian (Inter),
Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Gianluca
Mancini (Roma), Alessio Romagnoli (Lazio), Giorgio Scalvini
(Atalanta), Leonardo Spinazzola (Roma);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Bryan Cristante (Roma),
Davide Frattesi (Inter), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Lorenzo
Pellegrini (Roma), Matteo Pessina (Monza), Sandro Tonali
(Newcastle);
Forwards: Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Wilfried Gnonto (Leeds),
Ciro Immobile (Lazio), Matteo Politano (Napoli), Giacomo
Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Genoa), Mattia Zaccagni
(Lazio), Nicolò Zaniolo (Aston Villa).
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